Everything is Beautiful
by SJO
Summary: A little girl unexpectedly teaches Jack a lesson.
1. The Monster

Everything is Beautiful  
  
A Samurai Jack fanfic by SJO  
  
(Note: I don't own "Samurai Jack." And even though there's a character in here named Jill, it's not going to be like Samurai Jill in "Jack and Jill," nor is it going to be like "Blind Prophetess." I'm hoping, once again, that this will be completely different.)  
  
Chapter 1: The Monster  
  
She ran through the valley, though she wasn't sure why. She was frightened, tired, and alone. For two days she had been running from something. What could it be? Why was she running, so far away from home?  
  
All she could think about was the terrible event from a couple of days ago. A monster she had only seen in her dreams appeared in her small village. "Heed my proclamation!" the monster declared. "From this day forth, this town will be cut off from the second trade route."  
  
She couldn't understand what this meant, but her father didn't like it. He came boldly to face the monster. "You can't do that!" he yelled.  
  
"No one tells me what I can and cannot do."  
  
"Well, I am! That trade route is our only source of income with anywhere else! We need that trade route!"  
  
Meanwhile, she was filled with great fear. The monster had her scared silly. She bawled into her mother's apron.  
  
"What's the matter, Sweetheart?" her mother said.  
  
"The monster! He's gonna eat me! Make him go away!"  
  
"I think that's what Daddy's doing."  
  
Daddy was feeling particularly brave. He was throwing rocks at the monster while continuing to yell. Then, to the girl's greatest horror, the monster knelt down and looked straight at her.  
  
"And this is your treasure?" She howled with more tears. "You fear me, child?" the monster addressed her. "I will show something to fear."  
  
Before the monster could do something drastic, the father grabbed her. "No! You cannot have her!"  
  
"I've have enough of your humoring me!" the monster declared. "I will make an example of you!"  
  
The next thing the girl knew, they were thrown into the are at an amazing force. The girl found herself in a forest she did not know, probably very, very far from home. At least the monster didn't eat her, but what had it done to Daddy?  
  
The girl came upon a very steep, rocky hill at the other end of the valley. Well, there was nowhere else to go but up. The girl didn't know how to manage it, especially in her bare feet, but she didn't see any choice but to try.  
  
About three-fourths of the way up, she saw someone coming up on the other side of the hill. It was a man all in white. She couldn't really see him very well, but it looked like he had some kind of very big knife in his hand. Didn't his mommy ever tell him not to play with knives? He was fighting some people who looked like raccoons. Daddy had talked about them; they were mean. The girl held tightly to the rock she was clinging to and watched. She didn't want to come up with them.  
  
The man in white tumbled with one of the larger raccoon men. The girl watched in terror as his knife sliced right through the raccoon man. It was only a robot, but it still looked scary. The fight went on like this for a long time. The girl's hands were starting to give. She tried to grab again and hold tighter to the rock, but it was clear that she was still slipping. She tried to reach the next rock, but as she did her feet came out from underneath her, and she began to fall. 


	2. Two Travelers Going Home

Chapter 2: Two Travelers Going Home  
  
The man in white heard her cry. He abandoned his fight, leapt down, and grabbed the girl around her waist. The girl was surprised that this man with the dangerous knife was saving her. He protected her from getting hurt in the fall then let her go as they landed. He looked as though he was about to ask her if she was all right, but at that moment the raccoon men also leapt down. The man immediately attacked them. The girl shrank back into the trees. He destroyed more of the raccoon men until they were all gone.  
  
Finally, the man came to girl and knelt to her level. The girl was still in shock. "It is unwise for you to be alone," the man said.  
  
"I know," the girl gasped.  
  
The man put his hands on her heaving shoulders. "Be calm. The danger is over. I mean you no harm."  
  
She looked into his face. "Are you an angel?"  
  
The man was taken aback. "No! I am only a man, no different from you. What is your name?"  
  
"I'm Jill. I'm four-years-old! Who are you?"  
  
"I am called Jack."  
  
Jill giggled. "Really?" She started circling him playfully.  
  
"What?" Jack asked.  
  
"Don't you have a pail of water?"  
  
"No. Do you?"  
  
"No. But one of us has got to!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"It's how the rhyme goes, silly! 'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.'" But Jack looked at her confused. "You never heard it before?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, I can't really remember how the rest of it goes."  
  
"Were you going up the hill to get water?"  
  
"No, I was going up the hill because there was nowhere else to go. Why were you going up the hill?"  
  
"About the same reason." Jill suddenly smiled at him. "What is it?"  
  
"Mommy always said that one day I'll meet a man named Jack and he'll be with me forever and ever and ever."  
  
Jack frowned. "Where is your mother?"  
  
Jill's smile also faded. "I don't know!" She told Jack her story of the encounter with the monster, almost all in one breath. She ended the story with lots of tears. "I just wanna go home!"  
  
Jack dried her tears with his robe. "I know the feeling all too well. I will see you safely home."  
  
Jill sobbed a little and slowly stopped crying. "You will? Do you know the way?"  
  
"You do, do you not?"  
  
"I tried to find it alone. It feels so far away."  
  
"It can not be as far as my home," Jack answered smiling. "We shall find it."  
  
"And you'll help me find Daddy, too?"  
  
"I will try." He held her hand. "Let's go." 


	3. A Day with a Samurai

Chapter 3: A Day with a Samurai  
  
Jill was obviously cheered-up by Jack's company. She was now skipping and singing every nursery song she knew as she followed the hero. Jack wasn't sure he liked her attracting attention in such a way, but he liked her innocence and her joy. It was hard to find this in Aku's awful world.  
  
It was getting late, so Jack set up a place to camp. He found a small wild animal and killed it for supper. He built a fire, cooked the animal, and handed some to Jill. "Yuck," she said in disgust.  
  
"I'm sorry, Jill. It is all we have." Jack took a bite of his. "Eat some. It's good, actually."  
  
She still looked disgusted, but she took a bite. Then she smiled. "Mmmmm!"  
  
They must have been very hungry because they were quiet after that. After supper, Jill asked, "Jack, where are you from?"  
  
Jack didn't know how to answer her in a way she would understand. "Far away," he said finally.  
  
"Where's that?"  
  
Jack sighed. "How can I put this? Jill, do you understand what yesterday is?"  
  
"That's the day before today!"  
  
"That is right! And when yesterday is gone, it cannot come back again."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It is what has been determined for the world since the beginning of time. Jill, I am from many, many yesterdays ago."  
  
"How?"  
  
"A monster sent me here. I believe it is the same monster that attacked you and your father. Sadly, finding my home is going to be much harder for me than it will be for you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I am from yesterday. Yesterday cannot happen again, and few people know how to get back to yesterday."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Jack shook his head sadly. "I do not know."  
  
Jill looked at him. "I hope you find your home, Jack."  
  
"I will. It may take a very long time, but I will. I know I will. But I will find your home first."  
  
"And Daddy!"  
  
"And I will try to find him."  
  
  
  
Jack found Jill dancing in the sun the next morning. "Isn't it a beautiful day?" she said.  
  
Jack shook his head. "Nothing can truly be beautiful in this world while the monster is alive."  
  
"Daddy always says everything is beautiful in their own way."  
  
"Even the monster?"  
  
"Must be. The monster is very bad, but Mommy and Daddy both say that bad people are people. I don't understand it myself, but they understand."  
  
Jack didn't know what to say, but he was charmed at how naÃ¯ve the girl was. As he led her on, he asked more about her home. "What is it like? Are the people nice?"  
  
"The people are all very nice!" She talked about the elderly woman who lived next door to her who baked her cookies and had funny pets. It was good to see the child valued her elders. As she talked on, though, all she'd talk about were adults. There were no children her age. No wonder Aku called her a treasure.  
  
"Daddy's always gone talking to big, important people," Jill said. "I miss him when he's gone, but he says he does it for the good of our town."  
  
"Why does he say that?"  
  
Through Jill's limited description of the place where she lived, it sounded very small and very poor. It was a tiny village in the valley of a mountain, not far from a lake. It made little contact with the rest of civilization, so they didn't know much about Aku or very advanced technology or beings from other worlds. Their only outlet had to be the trade route. Aku's taking it away would really hit them hard. He must have thought it earned him little profit.  
  
They weren't attacked by any bounty hunters, but they did meet up with a wild animal. Jack killed it before it could hurt Jill. She looked at him with concern. "Mommy told me not to play with knives."  
  
"And that is wise advice indeed," Jack answered. "But you don't have to worry. I spent many years learning how to use this weapon so I wouldn't hurt myself, or people like you."  
  
The day passed on silently until late at night. Jill woke Jack up gently. "What is wrong?" he asked her.  
  
"Jack, I can't sleep. I keep thinking about the monster. He scares me."  
  
"I do not blame you," he answered.  
  
"Can you tell me a story?"  
  
"I don't think you'd like any of my stories."  
  
"Can you sing me a lullaby?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Jill, but I only know one, and it is in a language that you would not understand."  
  
"Did your mommy sing it to you?"  
  
"Yes, she did."  
  
Jill sleepily rested her head on Jack's lap. "Sing it to me, please. I wanna hear what your home sounds like."  
  
Jack closed his eyes. He could hear his mother's soothing voice in his memories of when he was Jill's age, long before he even knew of Aku or the sword or his destiny. As far as he was concerned back then, he was simply a boy resting in his bed of silk as his mother sang. He stroked Jill's tangled hair as he remembered the words:  
  
Nen nen korori yo, okorori yo  
  
Bouya wa yoiko da, nenne shina  
  
Bouya no omoriwa doko e itta  
  
Anoyam koete, sato e itta.  
  
Sato no miyagene nani moratta  
  
Denden taiko ni sho no fue.  
  
Jill fell asleep with a smile on her face. It didn't matter to her that the language was foreign, but the song was very beautiful and happy. Jill did not see Jack weeping over her as she slept, but Jack cried himself to sleep.  
  
(Note: That song is Komoriuta. I'm very sure that it's traditional, therefore in public domain. I don't know what it means or how it goes, just that it's a Japanese lullaby I found online. I wanted to use a tape I have of lullabies around the world, but I can't find it.) 


	4. Hunted

Chapter 4: Hunted  
  
The monster was watching them.  
  
He always had his eyes on Jack of course, and it pleased him to see the samurai heartbroken. But his eyes burned with anger and surprise as he saw the child Jack cradled in his arms.  
  
"It can't be!" Aku cried. "The Jewel of Niel! I thought I destroyed her, and now the samurai has her? I cannot let them go on together. I will destroy them both."  
  
  
  
The trouble started when they were walking through a forest. Jack felt a sudden whoosh of heat, and immediately a fire sprung up in front of them. Jill screamed and grabbed Jack's robes. "Quickly," Jack advised, "let's turn around before the fire--" Just as they turned, the fire appeared on their other side. "--spreads."  
  
Jill cried out in fear and held tighter to Jack. "What're we gonna do?"  
  
"Do not be afraid. We will get past this." So saying, he picked Jill up and put her on his shoulders. "Now, hold tightly to my neck, and keep your head down." With that, he broke into a run. They got as quickly as they could through the burning forest. Burning twigs got into his eye and scratched at his robe, and the smoke was making him weak, but somehow Jill wasn't hurt.  
  
"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick!" she said quietly in his ear. And he was definitely both. As they reached the edge of the forest, Jack used his good jumping skills to leap over a huge, burning tree to safety on the other side. "Jack jumped over the candlestick!" Jill said triumphantly.  
  
"That was a little bit larger than a candlestick."  
  
"I know, but that's how the Mother Goose rhyme goes."  
  
"Oh. It's cute."  
  
At that second, many of Aku's robots and bounty hunters crowded around them. Jack took Jill off his shoulders. "Stand back," he ordered her.  
  
So he unsheathed his sword and did his thing. To his surprise and horror, however, they weren't attacking him as much as they were Jill. This made Jack absolutely furious! In his training, he was taught that if one hurt a child, he should double-retaliate, but this was beyond even that! He struck every villain with more strength than ever before! They were destroyed in minutes.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, Aku was still watching. If he had hair, he would have been pulling it out. He cried in fury. "Insufficient idiots!" he yelled. "Well, if you want something done--"  
  
  
  
Jack quickly ran to where Jill was standing. "Jill! Jill! Are you alright?" To his amazement, Jill was standing at a distance as if hardly anything happened. "You're--you're not hurt?" She shook her head. He ran to her in disbelief. Looking closely at her, he didn't see a scratch. "Oh, Jill," he whispered. And before he knew it, he was giving her a hug.  
  
Suddenly, Jill gasped.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I, I know where I am now!" She looked around. "This is Blackberry Hill! Mommy and me, we pick blackberries here in the summertime!"  
  
"So, that means, you're not far from home?"  
  
"No! In fact, I think it's just down the hill!"  
  
"Jill, Jill, I am so happy for you!" Jack said hugging her tighter.  
  
But suddenly, Jill's hug went stiff. Jack looked at her and saw pure terror on her face. "What is wrong?"  
  
"I don't know. I just suddenly feel really scared. And cold."  
  
Jack felt it in the air too. He saw the shadows of the forest starting to gather and glared. "Be strong and courageous, Jill," he whispered. The shadows became a monstrous form before the two of them.  
  
Jill clung to Jack as he drew his sword. She started to cry, "It's the monster!"  
  
"Yes, Jill, I know," he whispered. "I'll make him go away."  
  
Aku smiled at her. "You are still afraid of me, little one?"  
  
"She has every reason to be," Jack answered. "You have hurt her and her family deeply! Now, tell me, what have you done with her father?"  
  
"Samurai, that is beyond your concern."  
  
"When innocent children are involved, it becomes my concern."  
  
"Put this behind you, samurai. I have come to make you an offer you can not refuse."  
  
Jack glared and gripped his sword even more tightly.  
  
"I swear on all my domain to send you home to your own time where you can do with me whatever you wish. You can claim your crown as emperor, raise a family, anything that you desire. All you need to do is surrender to me the girl."  
  
Jill went pale and whimpered.  
  
"Absolutely not!" Jack cried.  
  
Aku knelt down and looked directly at Jill again. She nearly died of fright. "What is the matter? You are afraid I am some sort of boogey man? Come to eat you?" Aku laughed. "I assure you, I do not abase myself by eating such slime as humans."  
  
Jill started to dry her tears as she heard this. "Then, can you let me go home?"  
  
Aku smiled slyly. "Yes. Of course, my dear."  
  
Jill took a couple of steps forward, but Jack stopped her. "I will die before I surrender a child to you!"  
  
Aku shot him a look that seemed to say, "And die you shall."  
  
"Jack, let me go!" Jill said. "I'll go home, you'll go home, we'll all be happy!"  
  
"Hasn't your mother taught you anything about lying?"  
  
"How can you know he's lying?"  
  
"Because I know the monster."  
  
Aku gave another mysterious smile. "You know, you two make a cute couple, Jack and Jill. Have you ever heard the poem about you two?"  
  
"Not the whole thing," Jack answered.  
  
"Then let me fill you in." Aku waved his hand, and the two seemed to float up to his eye level. Then Aku said slowly and sarcastically, "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water." At that, his eyes glowed with an evil light, and shot some kind of black lightning that surrounded Jack. Then he said more quickly, "JACK FELL DOWN AND BROKE HIS CROWN AND JILL CAME TUMBLING AFTER!!!!!!!" 


	5. The Jewel of Niel

Chapter 5: The Jewel of Niel  
  
Aku's magic was crushing Jack's skull. He felt like he was falling. This was it; he knew he was going to die. He looked at Jill one last time, fearful that she would be hurt. In terror and sorrow, she reached out her pudgy hand to him and screamed, "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"  
  
Jack gaped at Jill in surprise. He didn't understand how, but that one word somehow broke Aku's spell. He caught Jill as she fell and landed safely. Jill was shaking in his arms, her eyes filled with tears.  
  
Aku stared at them in disbelief. "What? How can this be?"  
  
Jack glared at him. "Your evil has no power over this young one's innocence. Her heart has no bounds, for in reasons even I cannot understand, she loves you."  
  
"You do not know her, samurai."  
  
"I know her much better than you do. She is afraid of you, but she loves you. She cares about you. It makes her sad to see such evil."  
  
"She is no person, merely a possession. A very valued possession."  
  
"More value than you will understand. You will never comprehend love."  
  
"Love?!?" Aku face twisted in fury. "I do not have time to listen to such ridiculous notions! I will meet both of you again!" With that, he disappeared.  
  
Jack put the still shuddering Jill down. "Did you see your father?"  
  
Jill shook her head.  
  
Jack understood. "You thought I was your father?"  
  
Jill burst into tears. "I didn't mean to, it was an accident, it just slipped out, I'm sorry!"  
  
Jack put his hands on her shoulders. "In all my life, no one has done a kinder thing to me."  
  
"Really?" She hugged him one more time.  
  
"I was very wrong, Jill. You are beautiful."  
  
Jill giggled.  
  
"Come on. Let's take you home."  
  
  
  
As Jill had conjectured, home was just down the hill. "Mommy!" Jill ran into a young woman's arms right away.  
  
"Jill! You're alive!" She picked her up and hugged her. Then she looked up and saw Jack. "Who's this, Honey?"  
  
"Mommy, this is Jack! He came and found me and sent me home, just like you said he would!"  
  
The mother put Jill down and met Jack. "I believe I heard a little about you. Please to meet you, Jack."  
  
Jack bowed. "I am honored. You have raised a very respectable child."  
  
The mother turned to Jill. "Could you wait here a moment, Jill? I need to talk to Jack for a moment."  
  
"OK, Mommy."  
  
The mother led him out of her house. "I am grateful you took care of her. She wouldn't have been safer with anyone else."  
  
"I am not sure about that. It seemed as though she could not be harmed."  
  
"That's the thing about her. Jill doesn't know this yet. She's not a normal girl. She's a spirit."  
  
Jack was surprised. "Jill's a ghost?"  
  
"Not a ghost. A magic spirit, like a fairy or a sorceress. In prophecies, she is known as the Jewel of Niel. She represents love, trust, and innocence. She is Aku's foil."  
  
"I gathered that. This is why Aku wants her so badly?"  
  
"Yes. It is why he cut off our trade route. He wanted us to hand her over." The mother wiped away a tear. "Sorry. We found her father last night. Aku's blast killed him. I don't know how I'm going to tell her."  
  
"One way or another, she will understand. She is wise for her age, and I believe you and her father taught her to be so. But how will your town thrive without the trade route?"  
  
"As long as we have the Jewel of Niel, we will be ok."  
  
The mother fed Jack a good meal, and then Jack said he had to leave. Jill cried and pulled Jack's robes. "Don't leave. Stay with us, please! You can be like a daddy to me!"  
  
"No Jill. Remember that I want to go home too."  
  
"But, but I'll miss you so much!"  
  
"And I will miss you, too. I will never forget you."  
  
"Maybe Jack could write to you, Sweetheart," the mother said. "Would you like that?"  
  
"Oh yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!" Jill cried.  
  
"Perhaps I can do that," Jack nodded.  
  
Suddenly, Jill looked up in shock and ran back into the house. She came back out with several lunch bags and a glass bottle with a clear liquid. "Jack, you're gonna need these when you get home."  
  
Jack was confused. "What for?"  
  
"I dunno, but when you get home you have to put them on your head."  
  
"All right, I will. Thank you."  
  
Jill and her mother watched as he walked off into the sun. "What was that for, Honey?" the mother asked.  
  
"It's just like the rhyme, Mommy! 'Up Jack got and home did trot as fast as he could caper. Went to bed and covered his head in vinegar and brown paper!'"  
  
The End 


End file.
